The Modern Composers at a Glance
An Impertinent Catalogue
Igor Stravinsky: Paul Revere rides in Russia.
Cyril Scott: A young man playing Debussy in a Maidenhead villa.
Balilla Pratella: Pretty noises in funny places.
Engelbert Humperdinck: His master’s voice.
Leo Ornstein: A small boy upsetting a push-cart.
Giacomo Puccini: Pinocchio in a passion.
Erik Satie: A mandarin with a toy pistol firing into a wedding cake.
Paul Dukas: A giant eating bonbons.
Riccardo Zandonai: Brocade dipped in garlic.
Erich Korngold: The white hope.
Arnold Schoenberg: Six times six is thirty-six—and six is ninety-two!
Maurice Ravel: Tomorrow... and tomorrow... and tomorrow....
Claude Debussy: Chantecler crows pianissimo in whole tones.
Richard Strauss: An ostrich not hiding his head.
Sir Edward Elgar: The footman leaves his accordion in the bishop’s carriage.
Italo Montemezzi: Three Kings—but no aces.
Percy Aldridge Grainger: An effete Australian chewing tobacco.
August 8, 1917.
Footnotes
1 One evidence of this is that his works are eagerly sought after and treated tenderly by the second-hand book-sellers. Some of them command fancy prices.
2 For an account of Péladan see my essay on Erik Satie in “Interpreters and Interpretations.”
3 You will find an account of Balzac’s interesting theory regarding names and letters, which may well have had a direct influence on Edgar Saltus, in Saltus’s “Balzac,” p. 29 et seq. For a precisely contrary theory turn to “The Naming of Streets” in Max Beerbohm’s “Yet Again.”
4 “Wit and Wisdom from Edgar Saltus” by G. F. Monkshood and George Gamble, and “The Cynic’s Posy,” a collection of epigrams, the majority of which are taken from Saltus, may be brought forward in evidence.
5 Certain books by Edgar Saltus have been announced from time to time but have never appeared; these include: “Annochiatura,” “Immortal Greece,” “Our Lady of Beauty,” “Cimmeria,” “Daughters of Dream,” “Scaffolds and Altars,” “Prince Charming,” and “The Crimson Curtain.”
6 Houghton, Mifflin and Co,; 1884. Reprinted 1887 and 1890.
7 Houghton, Mifflin and Co.; 1885. Reprinted by the Belford Co.
8 George J. Coombes; 1886. Reprinted by Brentano’s.
9 Scribner and Welford; 1887. Revised edition, Belford, Clarke and Co.; 1889.
10 Brentano’s; 1887.
11 Benjamin and Bell; 1887.
12 Belford Co.; 1888.
13 Belford, Clarke and Co.; 1888.
14 Belford Co.; 1889.
15 Belford Co.; 1889.
16 Belford, Clarke and Co.; 1889.
17 Belford Co.; 1890.
18 Belford Co.; 1891.
19 Belford Co.; 1891. Reprinted by Mitchell Kennerley; 1906.
20 P. F. Collier; 1892; “Written especially for ‘Once a Week Library.’”
21 Morrill, Higgins and Co;. 1893. Reprinted by Mitchell Kennerley; 1906.
22 F. Tennyson Neely; 1893.
23 Tudor Press: 1894.
24 The Transatlantic Publishing Co.; 1895.
25 Ainslee; 1903.
26 A. Wessels Co.; 1905.
27 Mitchell Kennerley; 1906.
28 J. B. Lippincott Co.; 1906.
29 Mitchell Kennerley; 1907.
30 Mitchell Kennerley; 1907.
31 Mitchell Kennerley; 1909.
32 Pulitzer Publishing Co.; 1912.
33 In an essay entitled “The Great American Composer” in my book, “Interpreters and Interpretations.”